We’ve just returned from a wonderful trip to Italy and France. The first part of our trip was a bit botched, but being with Mia and Josh for their wedding more than made up for it.

The sad parts version:

We flew from Austin to Atlanta, Atlanta to Paris, Paris to Florence. Hooray!

As were were landing in Florence (maybe 100 feet off the ground), the plane lifted again and the pilot let us know that it was too windy to land in Florence, so he would land in Bologna instead. There would be buses in Bologna that would drive us 1.5 hours to Florence that night. Booooo. No dinner with Mia and Josh.

We landed in Bologna and waited for our luggage. It never came. The flight attendant said, “Sorry, there’s no more luggage! You’ll have to report it in Florence.” And that was that.

We were hungry, tired, frustrated – and we boarded the old, cramped bus with our carry-on bags (which were full of magazines, cameras, and laptops – no clothes or toiletries of course). We found two granola bars in Justin’s bag and snacked on those while the bus driver stopped for gas, then drove at maximum speed around sharp curves and through tunnels, switching lanes like a madman.

We arrived in Florence and reported our bags missing. The AirFrance attendant gave us each a little bag filled with one white t-shirt, a toothbrush, a spot of toothpaste, a drop of lotion, a tiny roller of deodorant, and a face wipe. We checked into our apartment, washed our clothes, and slept in our new t-shirts. A t-shirt and a towel wrapped around your waist turns out to be a comfortable evening outfit!

The next morning we dried our clothes with a blow-dryer and an iron, and then headed downstairs to meet Mia and Josh for coffee. I then proceeded to tumble down the dark stairwell, injuring my hand. It was painful and swollen enough for us to decide I should get it checked out, so we walked to the hospital with me crying the whole way. Josh pointed out the Duomo on the way, and I remember saying through tears, “It’s so beautiful!”

After a memorable experience with Italian hospitals, nurses, and x-rays, my hand was deemed “absolutely, absolutely no broken!” So it was to the pharmacy for ibuprofen and on with the day.

Wedding day came, and still no luggage. That morning we rushed to H&M to find something appropriate to wear to this wedding we had packed so well for (you should have seen Justin’s lovely suit! And my vintage dress… sigh). We found the basics we’d need to look presentable in a Florence cathedral and rushed home to change.

Twenty minutes before the wedding, the airline called and said that the driver would be outside our door with our bags in twenty minutes (of course), and we’d need to wait outside for them. Justin waited downstairs while I speed-walked to the cathedral. The wedding started, Mia and Josh were beautiful and happy, and midway through, Justin ran in, dripping with sweat, just in time to present the rings. And then they were Mr. and Mrs. Pruett!

So Florence was an adventure for us! Now it’s a funny story, it’s mishap after mishap that just kept getting worse. But through it all, we had each other, our wonderful friends, our little white AirFrance t-shirts, and the SAME TRAVEL OUTFITS for three days in a row. I now hate these pants. :)